Salzburg’s 2010 Olympic Bid could be in jeopardy because of security concerns.
According to a published report, an Austrian airforce officer, Erich Wolf, said the International Olympic Committee had asked Austria whether it was capable of adequately defending its airspace against terrorism during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Wolf believes that if the Austrian government decides against buying a new fleet of military jets, the present, already obsolete Saab Draken aircraft would certainly no longer get off the ground in eight years’ time.
And according to another army officer, designated Chief of General Staff Roland Ertl, the army was half-starved of funds. The report says that Ertl and other military spokesman have pointed out that in Europe, only Luxembourg and Iceland spent proportionally less of their gross domestic product than Austria on defence.
Ertl said the Austrian army is so poor that it lacks the “military structure” for disaster rescue missions. He added that over the past 12 years the army had not only been obliged to steadily cut down its budget, but also to pay for its own patrols along the eastern borders to prevent illegally-entering refugees and migrants.
With Berne dropping out of the race recently because a referendum showed its bid had little support among its citizens, and the lack of security perhaps jeopardizing Salzburg’s bid, the 2010 bid short list may be whittled down to only two candidates – Vancouver Canada and Pyeongchang South Korea.
